March 2003

Jeremy PeltProfileFresh Sound New Talent

Jeremy Pelt is originally from Los Angeles, but since graduating from the Berklee College of Music, he's been playing in and around New York and making a name working with the Mingus Big Band, Jimmy Heath, Cassandra Wilson and drummer Louis Hayes' Cannonball Legacy Band. Profile (Fresh Sound New Talent), his first disc as a leader, shows that he's assimilated the playing styles of Freddie Hubbard, Booker Little and Chet Baker, while his seven original compositions reveal an affinity for Wayne Shorter. Pelt and drummer Ralph Peterson are all over the opening "Aesop's Fables," and they really mix it up on the 10-minute "Jigsaw." There are a couple of nice ballads: the slow-motion "A Song for You," and "You Won't Forget Me" inspired by Shirley Horn's version with Miles Davis. There's a modern samba, "We Share a Moon," and "The Trivium," which features a dark, subtly shaded solo by tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene. Alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw plays an interesting and angular couple of choruses on "Pieces of a Dream," and pianist Robert Glasper, guitarist Mike Moreno and bassist Gerald Cannon all have something to say. Too bad three of the eight tunes end with a fadeout.